1. Field of the Invention
This is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Ser. No. 069,813, filed July 6, 1987, now abandoned.
This invention relates to rotary devices for mixing viscous liquid within a container, more particularly the invention relates to such mixing wherein obtaining highly homogenous consistencies is important as for instance with paint products and the like. The present apparatus is not, however, limited to the mixing of any particular viscous liquid and may be utilized in the mixing of liquids within a wide range of viscosities. Although the present disclosure discusses applications such as mixing of paints and asphaltic compositions such as roofing materials, such disclosure is intended to be by way of illustration and not limitation. The apparatus of the present invention is adaptable for home or shop use as well as for most commercial uses and may be designed for either stationary mounting or mounting in a conventional hand held drive motor unit such as a variable speed electric drill. The device may also be adapted, without structural modification, to effectively operate with liquids of different viscosities.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Commercially available prior art devices for mixing such fluids as paints and the like within plastic or metal containers have suffered from a number of inadequacies. This has been especially true with respect to power driven mixing devices which, although producing adequate agitation; run the risk of damaging the container if not properly handled. Those devices which do not depend upon extreme agitation, tend to be inefficient in the mixing function in terms of the time required for mixing and the degree of mixing. Prior art devices ofttimes are also unable to affect highly settled or semi-solidified material in certain areas of the container, as for instance the inside bottom periphery of a paint can. In addition, mixing devices are usually limited in effectiveness when used with a wide range of viscosities. For instance, a mixing device designed for use with a low viscosity substance such as paint would not be suitable for mixing highly viscous fluids such as asphalt or tar roofing substances.
The primary problems with prior art devices are therefore; inefficiencies in the mixing operation within a container, the time consuming nature of the operation, inability to mix certain areas of containers to any degree, and the destructive nature of certain types of devices with respect to the container surfaces. The range of viscosities to which prior art liquid mixers can be adapted may also be limited.